John “Jack” Stege has been named the University of Illinois Springfield Employee of the Month for April 2024. He is a building service foreman in the janitorial department.

His supervisor, Pattie Meyer, said that Stege is very enthusiastic about doing a great job.

“He takes a lot of pride in his work and truly cares about the people he serves,” Meyer said. “He continually asked employees and staff what he can do to help in any way to improve the area and is always willing to do more.”

Christine Tressel (Class of 1987) is an investigative journalist on the I-Team at WLS-TV in Chicago, where she has worked in various producer roles for more than 30 years. She started her career as a reporter and morning anchor in Springfield for WCIA-TV while interning for the station as part of her master’s degree in PAR. After graduation she moved to the station’s Champaign headquarters. Tressel left WCIA in 1992 to join WLS-TV as a writer and later became associate producer for the 10 p.m. newscast.

J. Jacqueline McLean (Class of 1978) is a veteran investigative reporter who has won an Edward R. Murrow and eight Emmy awards. Her creative and unique reporting style led to her being named one of the top three reporters in the country by the National Press Photographers Association in 2006. Her work includes the development of OCI, OnCamera Investigations, an online, independent investigative news agency, and JM Bonjour Productions, a news consulting and video production outlet.

Phil Jurik (Class of 1983) is managing editor of the Chicago Tribune. He has been with the Tribune since 2003, having served as deputy metro editor, editor of the suburban news group, metro editor and director of content-news.

Daralene Jones (Class of 2003) is an anchor for WFTV Channel 9 in Orlando and an Emmy award-winning investigativereporter. She was the executive producer of the “The Ocoee Massacre,” a television documentary detailing what sparked the killings of Blacks and destruction of their property on Election Day 1920 in Ocoee, Fla. She also produced “Groveland Four: Journey to Exoneration,” the story of four Black men who were wrongly accused of raping a white woman in 1949.